Doug Robinson is a longtime Colorado resident who has built a successful business and is now running for governor because he wants to expand economic and educational opportunities in the state.

That's what Robinson told a modest group of residents that gathered at Willow Coffee in Brush Monday for an informal meeting with the republican candidate for governor.

Robinson, the nephew of former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, said he has become concerned about the direction the state is going.

"Frankly while Colorado is doing okay, there are a number of challenges that I see and I am concerned about the direction of our state," he said. "I don't see us drifting to a better place. I think we need strong leadership to guide us there."

Robinson said one of his main goals as governor would be to reduce the number of kids in the state who are living in poverty. He said that Colorado is currently leading the nation in terms of growth in number of kids in poverty with one in four kids living in a home where no adult has a stable, full-time job.

"To me the best possible thing you can do for a family is to provide [opportunities] so that the adult or adults in the home can provide and take care of their kids," he said. "I believe that opportunity, especially for our kids, comes from economic opportunity."

Robinson said the state government could help do so by reducing the regulatory burden on state businesses and working to get broadband internet into communities around the state "so they can participate in the digital age and modern economy" and said those efforts would be priorities.

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Robinson also stressed his desire to bring greater choice to education through charter schools and open enrollment.

"I believe that public charter schools bring innovation, new ideas and opportunity that actually makes the traditional schools better and creates competition so that all of our schools can improve and we can do a better job of teaching our kids and providing opportunities for them," he said.

Robinson also brought up the teacher shortage in rural Colorado and said the state needs to change its licensing requirements to allow members of the private sector to teach in classrooms without securing a teaching certificate.

Robinson then brought up the state's lack of investment in infrastructure, which he attributed to leadership failures. He said there are 30 road projects in the state that CDOT says are urgent and said it would take only a few hundred million dollars to undertake them, which he said is not a large amount in the context of the state's budget.

Robinson cited the new $150 million headquarters for Denver's RTD transit agency as an example of a misuse of money that could be spent on addressing on infrastructure. He said the money to do those projects so can be found in the budget without raising taxes.

"Priority one, we are going to get our roads fixed because that is a fundamental responsibility of government is infrastructure and commerce follows infrastructure," he said.

Robinson said his other priorities would include addressing the state's opioid epidemic and what he described as the "marijuana crisis."

"We've got to educate our kids," he said. "I think our kids have the belief that since 'this is legal it must be ok' and then the potency of the products is extremely different than what it was in the 60s and 70s. There needs to be a greater education and we need examples and leaders that can step up and say your brain is too important to put [marijuana] in and you have a future."

Robinson said he is a founder of Smart Colorado, an organization dedicated to protecting youth from marijuana through education and lobbying efforts.

An air of tension was introduced at the meeting by the presence of a representative of a political action committee, which Robinson said was sent by the committee to "find something to use against me.' Robinson allowed the young woman to film his introductory comments but asked her to turn off the camera for the Q&A portion so those in attendance would feel comfortable asking questions.

One Hillrose resident expressed a concern during the question portion that many of Robinson's proposals seem geared toward the Front Range, such as his focus on charter schools. The resident said opening charter schools in rural plains communities seemed unrealistic. She asked Robinson how he would set himself apart from a crowded GOP candidate field, particularly among voters in northeastern Colorado.

Robinson started his response by asking those in attendance about what they felt were the biggest issues facing northeast Colorado. Answers included attracting and retaining business, the negative impact of EPA regulations on alcohol, road maintenance and the preponderance of unfunded mandates coming down to the county from the state. He then said he would aim to increase economic opportunities for the whole state.

"I look at our [current] governor and I've heard a number of times [while going around the state] that he's [just] the governor of Denver and we need to be making sure our communities are thriving around the state," he said. "To me, it is about economic opportunity and it starts with making sure there's broadband in these communities. But I think we also need to look at this is something the state government could do promote regional economic cooperation and opportunities."

To this end, Robinson suggested bringing counties together to look into areas of economic opportunity for communities and how they can act on them. He brought up the example of Pagosa Springs, a small community in southwest Colorado which is working to become a center for drone production with the help of the local community college and a wealthy donor.

"Government's role isn't to fix every problem but it is to facilitate," he said. "It's to give some ideas and support and bring best practices in so that people can start to solve and deal with their own problems."

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